Domain Name – Plays of the Game

Did you see that awesome play?! (Game-winning interceptions are always fun!) What great contact (Bouncing on the player for the catch!!) Or how about the commercials? Someone should fire the – I will not name insurancecompany’s – ad agency. OK, OK… I must admit – I watched the game for the half-time show. Who doesn’t love an awesomespectacle like Katy Perry flyin’ around a football field with cameos by Lenny Kravits and Missy Elliot? Three costume changes? Oi…

In honor of the big game, I wanted to provide a few “plays” to “insure” you don’t have issues with your “company’s” biggest “commercial” asset: your domain name. A few things that shouldn’t cause an “awesome spectacle” in your office include domain name expiration, inaccurate “contact” information, and know your login info for your registration service. This will keep you (and your friendly neighborhood IT geeks) from “flyin’ around” when it expires or other “changes” are required. (Isn’t playing on words fun?!)

With all seriousness, a few simple suggestions for you:

When you receive a note from Network Solutions, GoDaddy, or whomever your registrar is asking you to look up your information and validate it’s accurate, it’s a good reminder to check that your info is accurate and up to date. That said, we recommend NOT using the links in the email they send, if possible, as they could be spoofed – rather – login to your account and verify everything is accurate.

Make sure you actually own your domain. If your web designer, friend, or anyone else signed up for it, the owner (the Administrative Contact) may be them – in which case it is not really yours.

We recommend signing up for the domain for at least three to five years. This time-frame is usually long enough that your credit card will expire – so make sure to update it prior to the next renewal.

Make sure one of your contacts is an alternate email address not on the domain you’re registering. Why? All notices, including those allowing you to turn the domain back on if it expires, are sent to those addresses. If it’s going to the same domain that was shut down, you’ll have to jump through a lot of hoops to get it back. (See bullet #2)

You can always find out a ton of information with a WhoIs search – the one I like is https://www.whois.net – but depending on your registrar, you may need to dig deeper.

If you’d like some help navigating this “playbook” – let us know! We’re happy to help!